Simplicity 2.0

Women in IT: A Google Hangout

Article by David Chen, February 20, 2014

We’re having another Hangout! Please join us on March 6 at 2 pm EST (11 am PST) to discuss the role of women in IT.

Studies indicate that women aren’t proportionally represented in the IT industry. While 24 percent of the CIO slots in Fortune 100 companies and 19.2 percent in the Fortune 250 are filled by women, only 41 percent of the female CIOs report to the CEO, compared with 48 percent of male CIOs. In addition, the number of women CIOs as a whole has declined for two years in a row.

Plus, there’s not a deep bench—women fill only about 25 percent of the jobs in the tech industry, and the percentage has dropped since 2001. 35 percent of CIOs say they have no women in IT management, while 24 percent say they have no women on their technical teams at all. To make it worse, the number of women studying technology has dropped from 30 percent to 18 percent since the peak in the 1980s.

Some people feel that this is a problem and reflects institutional sexism, while others say that IT is a meritocracy and that the women just aren’t applying for the jobs. Various “brogrammer” incidents also have become public in this past year; what do they represent? We’ll talk to a range of people in the industry and get their views.

Simplicity 2.0 is where we examine the intricate and transitory world of technology—through a Laserfiche lens. By keeping an eye on larger trends, we aim to make software that’s relevant to modern day workers, rather than build technology for technology’s sake.

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